1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method of cell-based path planning for a mobile body. More specifically, the present invention relates to an apparatus and method of path planning for such a mobile body as a robot to travel from a given start point to a given goal point while avoiding obstacles encountered within a specific space using position information, and a computer-readable recording medium storing the method therein.
2. Description of Related Art
Robots have been developed to replace human labor as a part of factory automation in industrial applications and have been also employed to perform dangerous tasks in extreme environments humans cannot endure. With the recent development of robot technologies, the robots are found not only in industrial applications but in medical applications, household appliances, educational applications, and deep-sea or space exploration. For such a mobile body to have the capability to move around and automatically perform tasks without human control, the most fundamental and essential factor is a path-finding mechanism which is configured for the mobile body to efficiently travel around. That is, the mobile body equipped with the path-finding mechanism may automatically move along the searched route.
On the other hand, the mobile body needs a map for a motion space to perform tasks within the motion space. In order to make the map for a motion space, an algorithm for the map is further needed. For example, a wall-following algorithm may be used to find the entire configuration of the motion space, or active simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) may be employed to perform path planning. After the map is completed, coverage path planning may be additionally needed for the mobile body to fully cover the entire motion space within the map.
Cell decomposition has been widely used as a path planning method for a given map. The cell decomposition decomposes a specific space into cells where a mobile body completes a task in one of the cells and moves to another cell. The mobile body may use a grid map which is a two-dimensional (2D) map for an environment using an IR sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, or a laser sensor.
In general, the absolute position of the mobile body may be determined using a global positioning system (GPS) or a beacon equipped with an ultrasonic sensor and installed in a working environment. The relative position of the mobile body may be determined by obtaining rotation speed and translation speed from an encoder and calculating the integration of the rotation speed and translation speed or by calculating the double integration of an acceleration value obtained from an accelerator sensor.
However, the motion performance of the mobile body is determined depending mainly on how the mobile body makes an efficient path planning.